Machine readable codes, such as, barcodes, provide machine readable data relating to an object to which it is attached. Over the years, two-dimensional bar codes have become popular due to their large storage capacity, durability and fast readability to store information about products and services. Some examples of two-dimensional matrix barcodes include Datamatrix, Maxicode (Created by United Parcel Service), and the QR Code® (Trademark registered to Denso Corp. of Tokyo, Japan).
QR Code® has been widely used to store information about a product or services. Merchants have been trying to come up with creative ways to attract consumers by using QR Code® for marketing by providing information that can be easily accessed by scanning the QR Code® using an embedded camera within a user's mobile device (e.g., a smart phone or a tablet) or a code reader. QR Codes® are also being used on smart posters to provide real time updates on special events, sales, transport options, airline bookings, etc., to enrich consumers' experience.
When a QR Code® is scanned using an electronic device a common response is to open a certain website in a web browser on the device that captured the QR Code®. Some QR Code® reader applications are able to recognize the QR Code® and view the information encoded in the code, while others can simply open URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) or display text. A QR Code® scanned by a device that is not able to recognize the code would simply display some text that may be not meaningful. This is especially true when certain QR Codes® are designed to be scanned by custom code readers, so any off-the-shelf code reader would simply display unrecognizable text after scanning those QR Codes®.
Furthermore, internet access may be spotty, unreliable and expensive in some cases, therefore, product information may not be available at all the times if the website with the product information cannot be accessed reliably using the device.
Embodiments of the invention address this and other problems, individually and collectively.